A bill to correct the motor vehicle code and make it clear that pedestrians are allowed to use countdown signals the way they were intended has passed both houses of the legislature and is headed for the governor’s signature.

This is good news. Streetsblog has been following the progress of A.B. 390, from Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles). The bill is now even better than it was, having cleared up some ambiguity. That is, A.B. 390 now clearly states that pedestrians may enter an intersection and cross during a countdown signal that is accompanied by a flashing hand signal or “Don’t Walk,” as long as they reach the other end of the intersection before the hand or “Don’t Walk” signal goes steady.

Most pedestrians assume that a countdown says, “this is how much time you have left to cross,” and most reasonably assume that if the countdown says, say, 15, they can judge for themselves whether that gives them enough time to cross. But police in some parts of the state, notably L.A., have been strictly interpreting the law according to how it was applied before countdown signal technology was invented. The LAPD issues thousands of citations annually to pedestrians who enter an intersection after the countdown started, no matter how much time the countdown displays nor how wide the intersection, and regardless of whether the person reaches the far end of the intersection before the flashing stops.

That kind of enforcement may look good on paper, but it causes useless difficulties and expense, with little to show for it. If the purpose of countdown signals is to increase pedestrian safety by giving them solid information to act on, then penalizing them for acting on that information is not an effective safety strategy.

Watch mad dog pedestrians bullying a innocent car and walking ALL OVER THE STREET. Has the whole world gone mad ?

onlinenetizen

never was for safety, it was for revenue generation

farazs

Yeah, those kamikaze pedestrians are running a secret campaign to undermine our traffic fatality figures, ready to lay down their lives for their nefarious cause! Is there no level they will not stoop to?

And pedestrians having a small window when they are allowed to start crossing helps how, exactly?
I’m specifically thinking of those places like the SF Embarcadero where vehicle traffic has 1+ minute, pedestrians get a walk signal for ~6-10 seconds before a ~30 second countdown starts. The street is wide but most people need nothing like 30 seconds to cross. And there are multiple refuges along the way where one could safely wait if one couldn’t make it during a shorter countdown.
Or like those odd cases where the walk signal is shorter than the yellow light for vehicles.

D Man

Because the goal is to eliminate all traffic fatalities. Everyone needs to do their part including pedestrians.

BJToepper

Hurray! I got nailed by the countdown-clock police back when fines were only $75. I could never figure out why the law was needed for safety.

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